RE: [DL] Setting the Record Straight

["Caias Ward" <dreamside@godreamside.com>]

I'm going to jump in on this one, Chris.  Now my turn to rant, as a
freelancer:

Steve, don't go blaming freelancers, when companies have a policy of paying
us late or never and otherwise treating freelancers poorly.  We spit out
words and art on time, sometimes on **very** short notice (Gareth Skarka
doing 20,000 words in 2 weeks for Shattered Coast, while getting UnderWorld
ready for print, comes to mind), and get little cooperation from the
companies involved.  Even 'friendly' companies may not have the cash flow to
pay people on time, and freelancers make allowances for that.  The not so
friendly companies... well, they went through their own problems (Last
Unicorn, anyone?).

Pinnacle, from what I know of those that have worked with them, was a model
of how companies should handle their outsourcing of projects.  Yes,
outsourcing, what real companies call it.  Ample feedback, clear guidelines,
prompt payment as per terms of contract, and not trying to blame them for
all your woes (such as your release dates being thrown off).  This fit how
Pinnacle operated in all aspects of its business; like a real business.
Some friends of mine ran a live action Deadlands event (something that Shane
does not really support), but the company still provided a great deal of
prize support (Dave Wilson teleporting product to my house was a nice
touch). :)  That's good business, and from what I've seen so far, Cybergames
is not doing good business.

To bring this back into focus, my opinion, as a businessman as well as a
freelancer, is that you guys dropped the ball bigtime with Pinnacle.  You
had a company that was continuing with rapid persistant growth, that could
have been the model for the rest of the companies under the Cybergames
umbrella, and you instead dragged it to a standstill.  I'm not sure of what
business model you guys are using, but it's certainly not one I had ever
seen before.  Best of luck with it, but you are going to have a lot of angry
people if you plant Pinnacle 6 feet under.

Caias Ward


-----Original Message-----
From: owner-deadlands@gamerz.net [mailto:owner-deadlands@gamerz.net]On
Behalf Of Christopher L. McGlothlin
Sent: Saturday, January 06, 2001 2:47 AM
To: deadlands@gamerz.net
Subject: [DL] Setting the Record Straight


At 06:42 PM 1/5/2001 -0800, Mr. Steve Peterson wrote:
>We will be posting release information as we get things firmed up.
>Eventually, we'll be announcing products a full four months in
>advance to the trade. Major releases will be discussed even earlier
>than that. Of course, when we're dealing with freelancers (artists,
>writers,
^^^^^^

editors, garphic artists) for some or even all parts of a
>project, it can be difficult to nail down a release date accurately.

Sir:
	With all due respect, good sir, the only two PEG products done by
freelance writers and unreleased prior to the Cybergames buyout--*Rain o'
Terror*, by Mr. Anthony Ragan, and *Dead Presidents*, by myself--were both
submitted well in advance of their deadlines. Indeed, Mr. Ragan did so
after a previous author bailed out of the project, something for which one
might reasonably assume Cybergames would be grateful for.
	While I cannot speak to the problems you may be having on other creative
fronts, I would thank you never again to place blame (by implication)
falsely upon me or Mr. Ragan (whom I am not speaking for, BTW) in a public
forum. While the insult is in all likelihood unintentional, it is both
injurous to me as a an industry professional and very disappointing coming
from someone whom I have had the pleasure of meeting and the greatest
personal respect and admiration for.





Deo Vindice,
Christopher McGlothlin, M.Ed.

Additional Developer: Deadlands: The Weird West Revised Edition
Co-Author: Tales o' Terror: 1877, Back East: The South & the JLA Sourcebook
Reviewer: Games Unplugged Magazine
Southern by the Grace of God


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